9 Dead After Plane Carrying 100 People Crashes Near Kazakhstan's Almaty Airport

A passenger plane with 100 people onboard crashed seconds after takeoff from the Almaty Airport in Kazakhstan on Friday. There at least 7 fatalities, BBC reported. Latest reports say that the death count shot up to 9. Local media reports say that there were several survivors among the 95 on board. An emergency has been declared at the Almaty Airport. The ill-fated plane was en route from Almaty to Kazakhstan's capital city of Nursultan. A special commission will be set up to determine the cause of the crash. According to Flightview.com flight tracker, a Fokker 100 aircraft of Bek Air was scheduled to leave Almaty at 7:05am local time and arrive in capital Astana at 8:40am. According to a statement issued by the Almaty Airport on Facebook, the aircraft hit a concrete fence and a two-story building shortly after takeoff. The airport said the plane lost attitude at 7:22 a.m. (0122 GMT). In a statement on its Facebook page, the airport said there was no fire and a rescue operation got underway immediately following the crash. Aviation safety has been a contentious issue. In 2018, there was a sharp spike in number of deaths in plane crashes in in 2018, according to new analysis. According to Dutch aviation consulting firm To70 and the Aviation Safety Network, more than 500 passengers died in plane crashes in 2018. There were 13 deaths in 2017 in two fatal crashes worldwide, but both were on regional turboprop aircraft, a Guardian report said.